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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30078234">Hold On</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ereana/pseuds/Ereana'>Ereana</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward Flirting, Crushes, Cute, Fluff, Holding Hands, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:48:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,533</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30078234</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ereana/pseuds/Ereana</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Osamu isn't sure if it's a hallucination or just wishful thinking that has him seeing Hinata Shouyou on the other side of the street but he's going to try his best not to make a fool out of himself either way.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hinata Shouyou/Miya Osamu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>179</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hold On</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/KennedyDreyar/gifts">KennedyDreyar</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Osamu isn’t sure if he’s hallucinating after one too many talks with Atsumu about how they’re going to crush Karasuno at the next Inter-high or if Hinata Shouyou is actually standing in front of him, eyes locked on his phone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>For good measure he blinks and rubs his eyes. He’s been forced to sit through enough Karasuno game tapes that he wouldn’t be surprised if the image of the other player has been burned into his retina — not that it’s a particularly bad image or anything — and it’s only when a passerby accidentally bumps into the other boy and apologises that Osamu begins to believe he might be real.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t approach right away, instead he takes a few moments to just look at the unexpected intruder on his shopping trip; jeans, hoodie, and two bags held in his free hand. Of course the boy Osamu has spent not an inconsiderable amount of time thinking about looks just as good in casual clothes as he does in a bright orange uniform.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then again if he could make bright orange look good then there wasn’t much that would look ugly on him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata turns his attention back to his phone after waving off the apology, his open expression turns into a scowl and he starts typing furiously. Osamu can’t figure out what he’s doing here. A quick glance around reveals no hidden members of Karasuno and Hinata seems to be alone on the pavement, largely oblivious to the world around him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Feeling unusually shy, Osamu stays back and takes note of the differences in the other boy since he saw him last year. Karasuno hadn’t made it to the first national tournament of the year and he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t been disappointed — in a very different way to his idiot brother who had seemed to be personally offended that Miyagi was represented by a different team, and complained non-stop for the first day about their lost chance for vengeance.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata’s hair is longer, curlier too. He’s also grown a little, not enough to remove him from the list of shortest players in the country but it’s noticeable.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Realising that he’s at risk of being branded a stalker Osamu shakes his head and looks away. Why is this throwing him? It’s just a boy from another volleyball team that’s on the other side of the country, nothing special.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Jumping higher and higher. Always putting his all into it even when it was clear that Osamu would beat him in a one-on-one. Brown eyes that burn into his with an intensity that makes him sweat. A predator contained in a cage of bone and skin that rattles the bar when challenged and snarls, demanding respect and acknowledgement from the rest of the world.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Hungry. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Osamu can’t take his eyes off him for the whole match.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He should leave. He should finish buying the ingredients for tonight’s dinner and head home, maybe mention it to Atsumu in passing to taunt him and then finish off his homework. It’s the smart thing to do.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Unfortunately, neither he nor his brother could be described as the smarter twin — though he could lay claim to the more handsome and well-liked titles — and the thought of saying nothing leaves a bad taste in his mouth.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His feet unstick from the pavement and he walks over. It’ll be fine, a short conversation asking HInata why he’s here before excusing himself and going home. Enough to convince himself that he’s not a coward and not giving him enough time to do something stupid, a win-win.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He forgets that man plans and God laughs.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But is instantly reminded of that little universal truth when he trips on air and stumbles forward in an ungainly mess of limbs and curse words as he tries to salvage some dignity by not falling flat on his face in front of the boy he’s maybe, kinda been fascinated with since last year.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Fuck.” Shoulders tense and brown eyes lock on to his face, wide and surprised. Osamu barely catches himself from falling, and when he straightens up it’s only years of practice doing embarrassing shit in front of others that help him keep a blank look on his face.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hiya.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata stares at him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Osamu stares back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Silence.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It’s going to kill him. The awkwardness is actually going to kill him. He needs to say something else now.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“So, what are ya—”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Miya-san are you—”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They both shut their mouths and resume their staring.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, why don’t ya go—”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What were you—”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Silence. Osamu will be forever grateful that no-one he knows is present to witness this and that Atsumu was too busy with captain stuff to come help with grocery shopping. It’s awful, and terrible, and Osamu had almost forgotten how much taller he was than the other boy and how far he’d have to lean down to—</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata starts to laugh.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Everything is wonderful again. It’s not even a cute laugh, all snorts and hiccups that don’t so much tickle the ear as bash it with a hammer, but Osamu feels himself smiling and relaxes his shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How ‘bout we try this again? Didn’t expect ta see ya here Hinata-kun.” There, a full sentence with verbs, nouns and he’d even managed a question.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata’s laughter dies down but he’s smiling too which is both excellent and terrible because the chance fo Osamu doing something stupid just increased by an alarming amount.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Miya-san! I didn’t know you lived here? Though I guess that’s kinda silly of me because you're from Hyogo and Inarizaki is pretty close by.” Hinata holds up his bags for inspection. “I’m here running some errands for my mom, we’re visiting my aunt and uncle for the weekend and I needed to get out of the house. Way too much adulting for me.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Osamu raises an eyebrow. “Adulting?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata nods and lets out a sigh so exaggeratedly aggrieved it would fit in a television drama. “Yeah, adulting. You know lots of boring talk about money, and houses, and jobs. Natsu...my sister, nuggets to play with our cousin in their yard, but apparently I’m too old for that now so I decided to make a cunning escape.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“By doing chores?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Exactly! And it was working pretty well right up until...um well this is a new place and I might not know where everything she asked for is.” Hinata admits with a sheepish laugh, completely unaware of the idea that springs to life in Osamu’s head that begins to throttle every last one of his sensible objections. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“If ya need any help findin’ stuff I could show ya around, if ya want.” He offers like it’s not completely nerve-wracking and holds up his own bags. “I’m nearly done gettin’ the stuff I need so I don’t mind bein’ yer tour guide.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata perks up and begins to rock back and forth on his heels. “I don’t know, I’d hate to be a bother and—”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not a bother, I wouldn’t have offered if it was. Besides, how are we meant to crush Karasuno at inter-high if one of their star players gets lost in Hyogo forever?” He says with a smirk, as expected Hinata bristles and points a finger in his direction.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No way! We’re going to beat you again just like last year. Wait did you say star player?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s settled then, what do ya still need to get.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata startles back but dutifully begins to rattle off a list of items. The baby stuff is a little confusing but Osamu knows where to go. He shoots off a text to his mom letting her know he’ll be a little late back and jerks a thumb in the opposite direction.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know where to go, come on then.” Hinata beams and hurries to stand next to him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you Miya-san. I’m usually not bad with directions but I think I was so ready to leave that I didn’t hear some of them when I left the house.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Osamu hums and starts to walk forward, Hinata falls in to step behind him and seems content to fill the silence between them with an unending stream of talk. This suits Osamu just fine because it gives him an excuse not to talk and make a fool out of himself and affords him the opportunity to just look at the boy without seeming creepy.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He contributes to the one-sided conversation whenever there is a pause to ask about volleyball, school, family, all relatively safe topics that Hinata takes up with relish.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He’s cute like this. All frenetic energy and quick sharp movements packaged in sunny smiles and orange hair. It’s a different side to the little monster he faced on the court but Osamu finds himself just as interested in this version of Hinata too.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ya know ya can call me Osamu right? No-one calls me Miya-san except teachers so it’s a little weird ta hear ya call me that.” He cuts in after Hinata finishes his story about Karasuno’s last training camp.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata stops in the middle of the street. Osamu quickly pulls him aside to avoid the oncoming pedestrians, it’s a weekend so the town centre is pretty busy and for all his impressive presence it would be too easy for Hinata to get swallowed up by the crowd.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Wha— Are you sure?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Osamu nods, like it’s not a big deal — and really it shouldn't be, most people call him by his first name, maybe not rival players from other schools but that’s besides the point — and flexes his fingers around the bag handle.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sure, and it’s not like we're complete strangers or anthin’.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata nods before wrinkling his nose. “Alright, but then you have to call me Shouyou too. It’s weird if I’m the only one using a first name.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Fair enough. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay S-Shouyou-kun, the first shop is around the corner so let’s go.” He has half a second to see a hint of red bloom in Hinata’s cheeks before the other boy is dashing ahead of him with all the speed of a cheetah on a hunt.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Great! Glad that’s sorted Mi—Osamu-san now lets go!” Hinata calls back in a loud but kinda squeaky voice. Maybe he’d pushed too much with the name thing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata starts to disappear into the crowd and Osamu curses, his earlier fears about losing his impromptu shopping partner rising to the forefront again and he runs forward to try and catch up with the little speed demon.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey wait up, yer gonna get lost.” Thankfully Hinata isn’t too far ahead and that bright orange hair stands out like a lighthouse on a foggy night. Unfortunately, said beacon seems to be heading right for the road.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Osamu panics and lunges forward grabbing hold of one of Hinata’s hands and safely navigating through the rest of the crowd. He’s done this so many times with Atsumu when they were kids that he doesn’t think anything of it, pulling another person through a sea of people and gripping tight to make sure they don’t drift away.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Atsumu got lost in the supermarket once when they were five and wouldn’t go outside without holding Osamu’s hand for a whole two weeks. Osamu hadn’t complained, too scared of letting go and turning around to find that his brother had vanished once more.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Jeez, be a bit more careful will ya. I know yer in a rush to get it all done but no need to be reckless about it.” He scolds, eyes darting back and forth looking for their destination. “I know I joked about it earlier but I really do wanna play against ya again.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You do?” Hinata squeaks and Osamu would turn around but crowd-navigating requires his full focus and Hinata is very bad for his focus.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well sure, gotta have my revenge after all. Ya were really fun to play against, and it was really satisfying ta beat ya one on one.” He can see the shop door and tugs Hinata closer unwilling to give him a chance to bolt off again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata squeezes his hand — it’s small like the rest of him, but rough from practice and fits securely in Osamu’s own — and he wonders if it was a hint for him to let go, he’s never met anyone less likely to be held in one place than Hinata Shouyou, and begins to loosen his grip. Hinata grips tighter and Osamu determinedly does not think about how nice it feels.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They exit the crowd and he lets out a sigh of relief.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Sorry ‘bout that, it’s not usually this busy.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Uhh, it’s okay.” Osamu finally turns to look at Hinata and oh dear, nope, bad idea, abort mission. Hinata is looking down at their still intertwined hands and blushing a very fetching shade of pink. Osamu’s own cheeks warm and he hurriedly lets go.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I-I didn’t want ya ta get lost is all.” He lies and resists the urge to reach back, he forces his eyes to focus on some blank spot on the building wall and shoves his hands into his pockets.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“N-No it’s fine! Haha, my own fault for running ahead.” Hinata says and he isn’t looking at Osamu either. “And it’s not like it was terrible.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, you have nice hands Osamu-san.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It’s difficult to say which one of them goes redder after those words are spoken. Osamu’s face feels like it’s on fire but Hinata is doing a pretty good impression of a traffic light so it’s difficult to decide on a winner.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yer hands are nice too.” It’s the most awkward compliment he thinks he’s ever given — and he’s including the time he tried to tell Kita he appreciated him as a captain and was mistakenly thought to be insulting his stern face — but Hinata lights up like he’s just waxed poetical for an hour.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you want to keep holding hands then?” Hinata asks without a hint of shame or embarrassment. His blush has yet to die down though so he isn’t totally unaffected. “I mean this looks like a big shop.” It’s one storey high at the most. “And I don’t want to get lost again.” There is one entrance. “So please continue to look after me Osamu-san.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And then he holds up his hand expectantly, blinking up at Osamu with too-big-to-be-sincere innocent eyes. In a daze Osamu takes his hand again, this time letting their fingers slip together, and he has to look away again. Hinata really is too much and Osamu is feeling hungrier than ever.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure thing Shouyou-kun.” An idea strikes him. “Suppose that means I have ta feed ya as well then?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh no, I didn’t mean you had—”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Because I know a couple of places ‘round here that I think ya’d enjoy.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hinata looks up at him — hopeful and disbelieving and something else that makes Osamu’s heart beat faster in his chest — and gives his hand another squeeze.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Sounds good Osamu-san.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They smile at each other, shy and a tad wondrous, and Osamu knows he’s going to be even later getting home then planned. He really doesn’t mind.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is a birthday gift fic for my lovely friend Kennedy! I hope you enjoyed it! I haven't written these two in a bit and this was really fun to write.</p>
<p>Feel free to come say hello on<a href="https://twitter.com/Jen_B93"> my twitter</a> if you want, I post snippets from my WIP's and sometimes cool graphics to go with my fics as well! This one has a<a href="https://twitter.com/Jen_B93/status/1371767861694377986"> cute graphic</a>  done by other lovely friend Andrea.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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